State Water Resources Control Board Mobil Cleanup Water Board Orders Immediate Exxon

C A L I F O R N I A
E N V I R O N M E N T A L
P R O T E C T I O N
A G E N C Y
State Water Resources Control Board
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2005
SWRCB 05-001
Contact:
Beth Jines
916-341-5254
Water Board Orders Immediate Exxon Mobil Cleanup
Sacramento – The Central Valley Water Board has ordered cleanup of a
neighborhood in Dos Palos due to high concentrations of gasoline and diesel fuel
by-products found just below the surface and near at least one home.
The Executive Officer of the Central Valley Regional Board has issued a Cleanup
and Abatement Order to Nicoletti, Oil, Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corporation for the
cleanup of groundwater polluted with high concentrations of petroleum
hydrocarbons, including benzene, a known human carcinogen. Recent sampling
of soil and groundwater has found gasoline and diesel fuels (product) floating on
the top of the groundwater table close to one of the homes, and within 3.6 feet of
the ground surface. Residents of homes located on top of the polluted
groundwater may be at risk from vapors rising from the polluted groundwater
and collecting inside of homes, as well as the risk of coming into contact with the
waste in soil and the polluted groundwater, and the risk of eating foods grown in
impacted soil. The plume of polluted groundwater and floating product may
continue to expand. The plume has affected or threatens to affect the free use of
property within this Dos Palos neighborhood and represents a nuisance or threat
of nuisance.
“While studies of the extent and character of the contamination have been going
on since 1995, the shallow depth of the contamination and the potential for human
contact with the fuels has prompted this Cleanup and Abatement Order,” said
Tom Pinkos, Executive Officer of the Central Valley Water Board. The
investigation and characterization of the Nicoletti Oil facility was transferred to
the Central Valley Water Board in March of 2003 from the Modesto Merced
County Department of Environmental Health.
The polluted groundwater underlies Nicoletti Oil, at 2801 Blossom Street, Blossom
Street, and several homes in the area.
There have been at least two releases of diesel fuel from the site of Nicoletti Oil
between approximately 1963 and 1980 that contaminated subsurface soils. From
1946 until 1980, Mobil Oil Corporation owned the facility, which operated as a
bulk fuel and retail fuel distribution site, and storage facility. The facility included
both underground storage tanks and above ground storage tanks storing gasoline
and diesel fuel. In 1980, Nicoletti Oil, Inc., which had operated the facility for
several years, purchased and then continued to operate the facility.
www.swrcb.ca.gov • email: [email protected] • 916.341.5250